IX Equilibrium
1999 studio album by Emperor
IX Equilibrium is the third studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Emperor, released on 15 March 1999 in Europe, and on 27 April 1999 in the US, through Candlelight Records.
01Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Chronicles of Chaos | 7/10 |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 9/10 |
| Rock Hard | 8.5/10 |
Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic describes the album as a "sonic onslaught of nearly impenetrable proportions".He noted that drummer Trym "doesn't so much keep time as pummel his kit incessantly", while guitarists Ihsahn and Samoth "contribute an equally oppressive wall of sound laced with keyboard textures so demonic they were seemingly concocted by the great horned one himself." He concluded, "Far from a masterpiece, but hardly a stinker either, IX Equilibrium falls quite short of the group's earlier albums through sheer lack of diversity, and will prove indigestible to all but the most committed black metal fans."
In 2021, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer magazine. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked the album's opening track, "Curse You All Men!", No. 42 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs"
02Track listing
All lyrics are written by Ihsahn; all music is composed by Ihsahn and Samoth, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Curse You All Men!" | 4:41 | |
| 2. | "Decrystallizing Reason" | 6:23 | |
| 3. | "An Elegy of Icaros" | Ihsahn | 6:39 |
| 4. | "The Source of Icon E" | 3:43 | |
| 5. | "Sworn" | 4:30 | |
| 6. | "Nonus Aequilibrium" | Ihsahn | 5:49 |
| 7. | "The Warriors of Modern Death" | Ihsahn | 5:00 |
| 8. | "Of Blindness & Subsequent Seers" | 6:48 | |
| 9. | "Outro" (Hidden track) | 0:28 | |
| Total length: | 43:33 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Curse You All Men!" (live at The Astoria, London July 1999) | 4:34 |
| 11. | "Sworn" (remixed by Ulver at Endless Studios) | 5:39 |
03Credits
Emperor
- Ihsahn, vocals, lead guitars, synth, and bass guitar
- Samoth, rhythm guitars
- Trym, drums, percussion
Technical staff
- Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen, producer, engineer
- Tom Kvålsvoll, mastering with Emperor
- Stephen O'Malley, cover design
- Knut Jacobsen, photography
- Christophe Szpajdel, logo
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “IX Equilibrium”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Ixequilibrium.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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